Electronics and appliance store sales rose in July
Electronics and appliance store sales rose in July
Jessica Ramírez tries to make her tech last as long as possible. But recently, her computer, which was 5 years old, started acting up every time she’d go online.
“So it would become like a little psychedelic screen. And I was like, ‘This is no — no, no,'” she said. So Ramírez, who’s an analyst with Jane Hali & Associates, bought a new one.
Lots of people who got new gear during pandemic lockdowns are starting to need upgrades, she noted.
That may be part of why electronics and appliance store sales were a standout category from this week’s retail sales figures for July. Sales in that category were up 1.6% from the month before and up 5.2% from the same time last year; this comes after a period of relative coolness for the sector.
We’re seeing more AI PCs for sale now that are tailor-made to handle artificial intelligence tasks. And consumers want that, Ramírez said.
“Rather than being scared of it or, you know, ‘What’s it gonna do?’, people are starting to incorporate it in their everyday lives,” she said.
Also, retailers are competing by offering big promotions. Jeremy Lambert with Alix Partners said he saw one retailer offer a discount on appliances of up to $850.
“That’s a big number to sort of lead with,” he said.
One thing that’ll help sustain this sales growth is a drop in interest rates, he added. It’ll make all those super-smart laptops cheaper to finance.
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